I got my daughter an appropriate T-shirt for Christmas, with the message "Make Orwell Fiction Again" - along with copies of 1984 and Animal Farm (both of which were on her reading wish list). Currently Orwell is becoming less fictional by the day.
I got my daughter an appropriate T-shirt for Christmas, with the message "Make Orwell Fiction Again" - along with copies of 1984 and Animal Farm (both of which were on her reading wish list). Currently Orwell is becoming less fictional by the day.
The difference being MiniPax now comes with a subscription trap.
"My ultimate vision for that part of the criminal justice system was to achieve, by means of Al and technology, what Jeremy Bentham tried to do with his Panopticon. That is that the eyes of the state can be on you at all times.""
Someone should tactfully point out to her that George Orwell's 1984 was meant to be a dystopia. But it's probably too late...
It’s been too late for a long time. CCTV, DNA records, ANPR and GATSO - we’re all being watched and recorded by the state pretty much any time we leave the house as it is.
Someone should tactfully point out to her that George Orwell's 1984 was meant to be a dystopia. But it's probably too late...
It’s been too late for a long time. CCTV, DNA records, ANPR and GATSO - we’re all being watched and recorded by the state pretty much any time we leave the house as it is.
In city centres, possibly. I think here the school has a camera to see visitors in the porch because there isn't line of sight from reception. There might be some at the airport and ferry terminal but otherwise no. Certainly no ANPR or GATSO (of course the latter is easily avoidable anyway). I don't think anyone has my DNA records either.
The arts and entertainment industries are some of the UK's biggest and most profitable industries. A huge number of big Hollywood movies are made here, for instance. It's a mistake to think that only performers work in those industries - a huge number of jobs are highly technical STEM roles. Is there a cliché of a sound engineer waiting tables?
Rather late to this comment; I used to work in a STEM area (control of noise and vibration - rather maths-heavy and formal old-style engineering) which was close enough to 'sound engineering' that the university I taught at got heavily into it. They farmed 60-80 students every year on questionable courses because it was profitable. There were plenty of 'would you like fries with that' jokes flying around. So I am afraid the answer to your question is 'yes'.
I think this is probably the appropriate thread to slag off that slimy treacherous git Mandelson. No wonder he was so fucking unconcerned about people getting "filthy rich" when he was (allegedly) getting kickbacks from them to leak market-sensitive information. And Starmer can GFH too: surely the previous scandals should have been enough to wake you up to what a skeevy moral vacuum you had at your side, or at least ask GCHQ/MI5/MI6 to check there was nothing else waiting to come out.
Oh yes, I was flabbergasted when I'm Mandy Buy Me got the ambassador role - this is a man who was demonstrably so crooked he could walk through a corkscrew, was it twice or three times he got fired, getting a Big Job for (presumably) having been a Big Man of a previous administration.
My concern is if Starmer is brought down, who will inherit the crown?
It certainly sounds like the appropriate thread - it's also been reported that Wes Streeting has been busy deleting his tweets which show him campaigning with Mandy.
This lot are definitely in the wrong party, and while we're at it, let's add Anas Sarwar for kicking off his Scottish election campaign by attacking trans people and getting it carried on the front page of pro-Labour paper The Daily Record - these are the same ghouls who noisily and lavishly supported the anti-gay Keep the Clause campaign (Section 28) in newsprint, who've now switched bigotries to trans folk.
What is currently pissing me off is the pm saying - he lied to us - does positive vetting really just consist of asking someone, have you done anything bad and just accepting anything they say at face value ? It certainly didn’t used to.
What is currently pissing me off is the pm saying - he lied to us - does positive vetting really just consist of asking someone, have you done anything bad and just accepting anything they say at face value ? It certainly didn’t used to.
Maybe not. I agree he should have been better vetted. I don’t think this alone will kill Starmer politically but we must be getting close to the edge. Streeting will be rubbing hands at this. Another step closer to the top job.
What is pissing me off is that we might have a change of PM as collateral damage to the activities of a sex criminal, while no American in a position of power seems to have been affected.
What is currently pissing me off is the pm saying - he lied to us - does positive vetting really just consist of asking someone, have you done anything bad and just accepting anything they say at face value ? It certainly didn’t used to.
That Mandelson had continued to have contact with Epstein post conviction was publicly known for some time. Starmer / Streeting et al would have had a remarkably sheltered existence to be unaware of that fact -- and in any case Starmer has now confirmed at PMQs that he did know of the relationship.
No American in a major position of power is so far affected because Trump and his enablers in the other US branches of government and their enablers in much of the media have their backs.
They are part of a major racist and misogynist authoritarian attempt to bring back 1950s style white male supremacy - and to reverse any traction from Me Too and Black Lives Matter. As far as a lot of these men and their fellow travellers are concerned they likely think Epstein did nothing wrong but get caught.
We're lucky we're not quite in that position yet but if we had a Prime minister Farage he would very likely just ignore it and his media fellow travellers would also likely play it down or be crippled/ destroyed if they tried not to.
I would be delighted if it brought Starmer down - our last best hope of avoiding Faragist doom is that Labour gets rid of him McSweeney and all their fellow travellers like Streeting quickly - but I doubt it will happen or happen in time.
Surely, Starmer is finished over this affair. FFS, they knew Mandelson was "besties" with Epstein, to quote Zara Sultana.
Starmer and co can turn a blind eye to anything so long as you're right wing and a Zionist.
It might not be his decision.
With the increase in the percentage of MPs needed for a nomination chances are he'll survive for now; the soft left probably don't have someone they can unite around, and Streeting will probably keep his powder dry for now.
What is currently pissing me off is the pm saying - he lied to us - does positive vetting really just consist of asking someone, have you done anything bad and just accepting anything they say at face value ? It certainly didn’t used to.
Comments
The difference being MiniPax now comes with a subscription trap.
Yes, from an interview at the TBI Christmas bash:
https://www.thenational.scot/news/25780001.shabana-mahmood-proposes-ai-panopticon-system-state-surveillance/
MEE has spoken with two possible Green candidates. Maybe it's a puff piece but both sound ideal:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-gorton-and-denton-by-election-meet-frontrunners-green-party-candidate
Various nasty Reform supporters have seized on a trans woman, claiming she's the candidate and vilifying her relentlessly.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jan/29/police-plans-to-stop-recording-lower-level-hate-incidents-in-england-and-wales-a-disaster-for-disabled-people-campaigners-warn?
Luckily her powers dont reach to Scotland on this one but that's not much consolation.
It’s been too late for a long time. CCTV, DNA records, ANPR and GATSO - we’re all being watched and recorded by the state pretty much any time we leave the house as it is.
In city centres, possibly. I think here the school has a camera to see visitors in the porch because there isn't line of sight from reception. There might be some at the airport and ferry terminal but otherwise no. Certainly no ANPR or GATSO (of course the latter is easily avoidable anyway). I don't think anyone has my DNA records either.
Rather late to this comment; I used to work in a STEM area (control of noise and vibration - rather maths-heavy and formal old-style engineering) which was close enough to 'sound engineering' that the university I taught at got heavily into it. They farmed 60-80 students every year on questionable courses because it was profitable. There were plenty of 'would you like fries with that' jokes flying around. So I am afraid the answer to your question is 'yes'.
My concern is if Starmer is brought down, who will inherit the crown?
This lot are definitely in the wrong party, and while we're at it, let's add Anas Sarwar for kicking off his Scottish election campaign by attacking trans people and getting it carried on the front page of pro-Labour paper The Daily Record - these are the same ghouls who noisily and lavishly supported the anti-gay Keep the Clause campaign (Section 28) in newsprint, who've now switched bigotries to trans folk.
Maybe not. I agree he should have been better vetted. I don’t think this alone will kill Starmer politically but we must be getting close to the edge. Streeting will be rubbing hands at this. Another step closer to the top job.
That Mandelson had continued to have contact with Epstein post conviction was publicly known for some time. Starmer / Streeting et al would have had a remarkably sheltered existence to be unaware of that fact -- and in any case Starmer has now confirmed at PMQs that he did know of the relationship.
They are part of a major racist and misogynist authoritarian attempt to bring back 1950s style white male supremacy - and to reverse any traction from Me Too and Black Lives Matter. As far as a lot of these men and their fellow travellers are concerned they likely think Epstein did nothing wrong but get caught.
We're lucky we're not quite in that position yet but if we had a Prime minister Farage he would very likely just ignore it and his media fellow travellers would also likely play it down or be crippled/ destroyed if they tried not to.
I would be delighted if it brought Starmer down - our last best hope of avoiding Faragist doom is that Labour gets rid of him McSweeney and all their fellow travellers like Streeting quickly - but I doubt it will happen or happen in time.
Starmer and co can turn a blind eye to anything so long as you're right wing and a Zionist.
It might not be his decision.
With the increase in the percentage of MPs needed for a nomination chances are he'll survive for now; the soft left probably don't have someone they can unite around, and Streeting will probably keep his powder dry for now.
Anthony Blunt, anyone? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Five